Two wheeled vehicles, such as motorcycles and bicycles have been increasing in popular over the years as desirable forms of transportation, and often use pivoting kickstands which can be lowered to support the two-wheeled vehicle when the vehicle is parked. A problem with the kickstands are that they are generally designed to require the lowered kickstand must be supported on a solid surface such as asphalt or concrete in order to fully support the weight of the two-wheeled vehicle in a parked position. This design purpose for the kickstands creates problems for the riders.
Motorcycle and bicycle riders are not always able to stop and dismount their two wheeled vehicles on concrete and asphalt surfaces. For example, weekend motorcyclists will often stop their bikes on grassy areas or in areas where the ground surface can be soft. Lowering the kick stand on grass, and/or sandy areas and/or muddy areas and/or soft areas can result in the kickstands sinking into the parking ground surface, and possibly causing the bikes to tip over. The tipping over of the two wheeled vehicles, especially expensive motorcycles, can cause considerable damage to the bikes. Additionally, the rider can be injured by the bike falling over.
Additionally, requiring the rider to always find a sold surface to park their bikes limits the fun and enjoyment of using two wheeled bikes in many applications such as riding the bikes on unpaved or non-solid ground surfaces, and the like.
Various solutions have been proposed over the years, such as using removable large pads. See for example, U.S. Patent Application Publications: 2004/0262880 to McClure; 2002/0163160 to Golemba; and U.S. Pat. No. 9,211,926 to Blaeser; U.S. Pat. No. 7,717,449 to Ballard; D585,227 to Kaczmarcyk, Jr. D563,837 to Irwin et al. However, these pads have inherent problems.
For example, the pads must be physically positioned and oriented underneath the kickstand, which can be difficult while sitting on the bike. Additionally, the pads are difficult to retrieve when the rider gets back on the bike, and has to tilt the bike up while bending over to retrieve the pads. Additionally, these pads are not easily accessible on the bike, since the rider may not have room in their pockets, and/or have difficulty reaching storage bags and the like, when they are sitting on the bike.
Tether line pads have also been proposed. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,267,353 to Mayhew and Des. 396,435 to Favereaux, Sr. However, similar to the other pad versions referenced above, these types of pads must also be physically positioned and oriented underneath the kickstand, which can be difficult while sitting on the bike.
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems with the prior art.